Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/467

 EGYPT 459 of the highest value to Egyptian history, and their general authenticity has been fully estab- lished by comparison with the monuments. There were 31 dynasties which reigned suc- cessively in Egypt, numbering upward of 300 kings, the sum of the years of whose reigns from Menes to Nectanebo II. (about 350 B. C.), the last king of the 30th dynasty, which was succeeded by the last Persian, was 3,555 years. "This succession of time," says Bun- sen, " the vastest hitherto established any- where in the old world, is now also the best authenticated. It is based upon lists of kings and their regnal years ; and these lists are cor- roborated and elucidated by contemporary monuments up to the 4th dynasty, with slight breaks; an authentication which is as unex- ampled as its extent." The era of Menes, ac- cording to Bunsen, was 3643 B. 0. ; according to Lepsius, 3893 ; according to Brugsch, 4455 ; according to Mariette, 5004. Wilkinson re- marks of Menes that the frequent occurrence of a similar name in early history, as Manes, the first king of Lydia, the Phrygian Manis, the Minos of Crete, the Indian Menu, the Thi- betan Mani, the Siamese Manu, the German Mannus, and others, may seem to assign him a place among mythical beings; buf that the Egyptians themselves believed him to be a real personage, and accepted the recorded events of his reign as undoubted facts. It is still in dispute among Egyptologists whether the first IV dynasties which succeeded Menes were con- secutive. It is maintained however by the latest writers, that the dynasties, with incon- siderable exceptions, were consecutive, and that the kings enumerated reigned over the whole of Egypt. In the following table we give a list of the dynasties with their capi- tals, the duration of their reigns, and the pe- riodsof their accession according to Mariette: DYNASTY. Capital. Duration. Date B. C. I. This 253 years. 5004 II. 4751 Ill 214 " 4449 IV. 284 " 4235 V. VI. Elephantine" . . . . . . . . . . . . . '. '. '. 243 " 208' " 3951 3703 VII 70 days 3500 VIII. 142 years. 3500 IX. Heracleopolis 3358 X. 185 " 3249 XI. Thebes / XII. 213 " 3064 XIII. u 453 " 2851 XIV Xois 184 " 2398 XV. (Shepherds) ) XVI 511 " 2214 XVII. XVIII Thebes 241 ' ; 1708 XIX. 174 " 1462 XX. u 178 " 1283 XXI Tanis 180 " 1110 XXII. Bubastis 170 " 980 XXIII. Tanis 89 " 810 XXIV. Sais 721 XXV. (Ethiopian) 50 " 715 XXVI. saisT !';": :;::::: 138 " 665 XXVII. (Persians) 121 " 527 XXVIII. Sais 7 " XXIX. Mendes 21 " XXX. Sebennytus 88 " XXXI. (Persians) . . . 8 " Of the 1st dynasty, founded by Menes, no monuments exist. The second king, Teta, is mentioned in later records as having built a palace at Memphis and as the author of books on surgery. The fifth king, Hespu, was the author of sacred writings. The 2d dynasty comprised nine kings, of whom the second, Kekeu, built the pyramid at Sakkara, the old- est monument in Egypt. He also established, it is said, the worship of some sacred ani- mals, among others the bull Apis, who was considered to be a living manifestation of the god Ptah. The eighth king of this dynasty, Sesocris, is said to have been a giant. Some remains of sculpture made in the latter reigns of this dynasty have been found, marked by a rudeness of style showing that Egyptian art was still imperfectly formed. The 3d dynasty, whose seat was at Memphis, was founded by the earliest of Egyptian conquerors, Seker-nefer- ke, who subdued the Libyans. Snefru, the last but one of the dynasty, subdued some of the nomadic tribes of Arabia. The pictures in the tombs of his reign show Egyptian civil- ization as completely organized as it was 4,000 years later. Nearly all the animals now used by man were domesticated, and the Egyptian language seems to have been completely formed. The 4th dynasty was like the 3d of Memphis, and the three great pyramids were built by three of its kings, Khufu, Shafra, and Menkara. Khufu was warlike, and won victories over the Anu, a people of northern Arabia. These kings built also the great sphinx at Gizeh, which was probably finished in the reign of Shafra, and near it a vast temple which was for ages buried in the sand of the desert, but has recently been discovered by M. Mariette. The splendor and wealth of Egypt seem to have been very great under this dynasty, but the people were op- pressed and became rebellious, and the dynasty ended in a revolution about 3951 B. C. The 5th dynasty came originally from Elephantine", and numbered nine kings, whose reigns seem to have been prosperous and peaceable. Many monuments of this period remain, and from the sculptures and the paintings in the tombs it is evident that a high state of civilization existed, and that art had attained a remarkable degree of excellence. Some of the writings of this age on sheets of papyrus have been found in the tombs. The national library of France possesses a book dated in the reign of Assa-Tatkera, the last king but one of this dy- nasty, written by an old man of the royal family named Ptah-hotep. It is a sort of handbook of good manners for young people, a treatise on practical morality, somewhat in the style and tone of the writings of Confucius. Filial obedience is inculcated as the basis of all good order. On the death of the last king of the 5th dynasty, a new family, of Memphian origin, came to the throne. The first king, Ati, was, it is said, after a stormy reign of 30 years, assassinated by his guards. His son and suc- cessor, Pepi Merira, was very powerful and